MY WITCH 15: Forgotten GirlThe Black Roses
by NotQuiteNormOld
Summary: WxC series. Double episode: Elyon is getting tired of being out of the loop and finds need for new comfort, while Will has ventured back to Meridian alone - leaving her astral drop to the others.
1. Chapter 1

Okay.. This could be a horrible disaster.

* * *

><p><em>"I was fairly disappointed by the lack of results, Cedric."<em>

"I am sorry, you're greatness." Lord Cedric bowed down, low before the snickering murmurers. He knew that his presence in the murmur room where he so hated was penance, but Cedric could only pray this would be his only punishment. It had been hours before the room was silenced of their quiet, but penetrating screams. Caleb had been there. He supposed he must have been in there for the painting, which now hung in ruins behind vines and thick bushels of flowers; beautiful to the eye, but deadly to the touch. Not unlike the prince.

_"Sadly for myself, I cannot leisure myself with the ease of blaming you so wholey for any recent afairs."_

_'No,_' Cedric mused_, 'Blame you're 'brother'._' That was why Phobos was so angry. Because his Caleb had upset the silly creatures and Phobos hadn't even managed to stop the beastly child from escaping. Cedric scrunched his eyes closed in a failing attempt to banish the tears of relief welling in his eyes; as angry as Phobos was with himself, Cedric had been sure it would reflect twice as badly on himself and the Lord would have been thankful for death had it been relatively quick. It was all Caleb's fault. The Heart had practically been his, and once the Keeper had grown tired she would be too. She was immortal as far as he could tell, though he supposed that was only with the protecting crystal she hung around her neck as jewellery. He would have found out the truth once her bravery wore away, but then there had been Caleb; the boy had pulled open his helmet simply to mock Cedric with his presence he was sure. But the villagers he had recruited would not have held up. Caleb would be quickly killed without a place to run, and he would have succeded. Phobos had acted rashly out of anger. If Cedric dare whisper it though, the murmurers he was so disinclined to would have given him up in a second. "Th-thank you, my Prince."

_"In fact. You will fetch our Frost and Tracker. Give them what they deserve."_

**...**

Elyon Brown stood staring at the phone in her hands. Had she said that? Actually said that? _'Is Will coming?' _It was rude, and sounded ruder as she'd spat it to Irma. And then she'd had to agree to go despite the redhead's apparent previously accepted invitation. It would be too obvious not to. And she didn't mean it, Elyon sighed, shoving the mobile deep into the pocket of her pastel-pink skirt. The words had only slipped out. But Will had left her. They all had. But Will was the leader. She even seemed to have managed to get Cornelia to abide by her and take her side; Cornelia did not comply with rules - she was above them. "Honey?"

"What mom..?" Elyon stared down at the ground as her mother walked into the room. She looked up then as a pair of familiar black boots stood squarely in front of her. The boots were very plain; they matched her mother completely. Elyon often felt rather disapproving for a woman so plain to marry a man as plain as her father - cursing her into the depths of having just that exact characteristic. If one of her parents was better looking she might have been beautiful like Cornelia, or funny like Irma. Or at least something. She supposed Will was plain too, if a little depressing, and Elyon could only wonder how she'd nudged into her own little group where even Alchemy was only half-welcome. "Seriously?"

"You're going out? What about your room?" Elyon's jaw tightened as her mother continued. For a woman of her own flesh and blood, Eleanor Brown did not seem to share anything of interest with her daughter; though only Elyon seemed to have anything of interest to share. Elyon liked things that sparkled and music and dancing. Her mother liked reading about history and calling her only child something that couldn't be found in a name book. "You should really finish before you go."

"Whatever mom," Elyon pushed past her mother, suddenly glad for a reason to leave, and pulled on her favourite brown boots, grabbing her long brown coat as she headed for the door. "Bye!" She yelled as an after thought, slamming the door in a way she knew her mother hated as she left for the CD store.


	2. Chapter 2

Karmilla. Will stared at her CD case, trying to recall when she last listened to it, but knew she hadn't since Fadden Hills considering she had just found it at the bottom of a box she'd shoved into the back of her wardrobe. Will wasn't in the mood to go out. She didn't want to see the girls today. She hadn't really been in the mood all week.

The flower was in Cornelia's room, amongst a bouquet of spring flowers in a vase on her desk. Will hadn't seen it, but two days after the fair when Irma had come in nudging and teasing Cornelia at lunch and Will had found herself without an apetite for the already displeasing school meals. It wasn't even a bad thing really, that Caleb had given it to Cornelia. Will didn't even really like Caleb.. Not much. She was just embarrassed. To think for a second that he might have gotten it to show her.. She hadn't even thought he'd got it _for _her; just to tell her. He did that. Taught her things. And half of what he told her didn't really matter, so why not tell her about it? It wasn't silly that she'd thought that at all.. Yet every time someone mentioned the rebel leader she found herself flushing deep maroon with embarrassment.. Over her mistake. And that was it.

Will hastily picked up her phone and dialed into the contacts, pacing back and forth as the ringing noise emitted from her useless phone. _"Hey, it's Matt.."_

"Matt- Shit!" Will seized the side of her head as she scrabbled for the mobile which now lay on the floor as she shrugged off the shock she'd got from the phone's constant squealing. "Sorry, Matt, dropped the.." There was a long beep that said the phone was ready to take her message and Will let her eyes glaze over with a cross between boredom and impassiveness as she clicked the godforsaken phone off, letting it drop to the flooras she stumbled and fell lazily onto her bed; screaming into a mouthful of duvet. There was no escape. She'd have to go. "Unless.."

**...**

"I can _not _believe Karmilla is going to be there! In Heatherfeild!" Hay Lin was crouching forward with her hands fisted as though trying to physically contain her excitement and Caleb let his forehead drop on the table in front of him.

Cornelia swanned by and he was only vaugely aware of what she said due to being smothered by the thick perfume that seemed to follow her voice past him, "Yeah, this town does stink.."

"No Cornelia," Caleb rolled his head lazily to the side, opening one eye to look at Irma who sat beside him with her legs stretched up and onto the table, "That would be your perfume, which is causing Caleb and myself to slowly decompose alive.."

Caleb grinned, though Irma was busy pretending to be choking to care if anyone had found her funny. "And what of Hay Lin?"

Irma stopped, looking at him as if it were a rock who had just spoken and not someone she knew to talk frequently. Caleb had learned that unlike Will, he could tease Irma without being verbally punched in the throat, though somehow it wasn't quite the same and he wondered why he hadn't seen the Keeper in days. "Hay Lin.." Irma took a patronisingly negligent glance at Hay Lin before raising her thumb to motion to the Chinese girl -who had added sqealing through bitten lips to her discription- and simply looked blankly at him. "Well just look at what it's done to Hay Lin."

As if to emphasize her point the doorbell rang at that moment and Hay Lin exploded into what he could only assume to be some sort of celebratory lap of the building due to Taranee's arrival; her arms in the air as she skipped up the stairs screaming something about the 'singer' Karmilla. Caleb watched her speedy exit, and looked at Cornelia who was still seething at the perfume jokes. It hadn't helped that he had formed alliance with Irma first; nor did it help that he also preferred said alliance, but Cornelia seemed to take his words in her stride since he'd given her the Synchóresi and he supposed that it showed she was more mature than he'd originally thought. "Who else is going then?"

"Just Elyon and Will."

"I might go." Caleb didn't realize there was significance in what he'd said until Cornelia and Irma both began gawping at him. "You know.. With the group. Hay Lin is always telling me how great this Karmilla is, and the music isn't bad.."

"Do you mean it!" Hay Lin had appeared; very suddenly attached to his shoulder, her tiny arms around his body in a tight hug as if he'd just told her the best thing in the world.

"Uh.. Sure."


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, so I needed a 'Meridian Language', not the letters they have in the program, but something for pronunciation.. So I went on google translate and clicked on the first thing to come up. It's not Greek btw as you'll know by the end of the 1st part of chapter below.

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><p>Prince Phobos watched as Cedric yelled silently at Frost and Tracker, who didn't seem to be listening, through his sands. It wasn't a good enough punishment, whatever Cedric would choose to give them, but Phobos didn't care to give the orders himself today. He was tired of his game right now; tired without his magical strengths; at least half of his power must be gone, but Phobos knew that probably wasn't true. He felt ill, as though he was fading. Without the power he was just a boy with a nice face who could easily be butchered. No, he needed the power. He needed every drop of power. He needed divinity. Pious. He wanted to be a God. And Caleb was proof that it was possible. He just needed the power.<p>

"Mihi virtutem." He asked for power only in true Meridian, as he believed that his ancestor's claim to English was only a foul of the great Escanor. His mother and father had surely been lost to their inconsideration of praying to the Gods in such tongues as that and the other. Elliniká. The two languages were mashed into one and claimed as Escanor's. To steal was not a sin, but to steal such unnecessary items as the words of another world was proof of imbecile. And he had stolen the crown. Escanor tricked the world into bowing for him, but Phobos had been forced. He was too young to understand the Gods and played with the lives he was surely given for entertainment. But then he'd grown to realize that he was yet to fade; to disappear. His sister had. A babe. It was only proof that he was surely meant to rule this way. His mother and father had been left unto raise him, then they were taken from Phobos for raising him wrong. For planning to set their babe as new ruler. It was Phobos' job to stop the babe for good. It was Phobos' job to rid the universe of the sins. It was Phobos' job to punish the people. And then he could join the Gods.

The spell was weak, but Phobos was desperate. He sat on the cold, hard throne and whispered it again; a seeking spell for power, to bring him the energies he needed. By magic. By voodoo. By fate. It didn't matter. "Mihi virtutem."

**...**

Will Vandom grinned down at the map before her. A cross glowed out in white to her, showering her in comfort. It was fate. She rolled up the map and slid it into her drawer, now knowing exactly where about she needed to go to find it. She had a duty now. To close the portal. No one could take that away from her.

"Hey, mom?" When there was no reply Will knew her mother must have left for work, so Will opened her backpack and threw a few CDs in along with her purse, slinging the heavy bag over her shoulder so that if she changed her mind she could catch up to the girls. It could be fun after all. All she needed was a distraction. To get her adrenaline pumping.

**...**

"The imbeciles!" Cedric seethed, but his quick pace was more due to his admittedly cowardice running to Earth. He knew he would need to prove himself to Phobos, but he also wanted to live, so he headed for the inversion at speed. On the other side he felt free. On the other side he would think and plan and everything would be clearer when he was out of Prince Phobos reach - though simply because the Prince would not travel through; not that he couldn't.

If Phobos wanted to travel to Earth he would, but it was a waste of the man's time as far as he was concerned. Cedric's scowl darkened as he pushed past Vathek; obviously startling the galhot who was obviously becoming a little too accustomed friendliness from the higher Lord. "Cedric..?"


	4. Chapter 4

Cornelia Hale was a pain. Irma watched with a grin on her face as Caleb physically had to take her arm off of his for at least the twentieth twime since they'd left the house. The best part as far as Irma was concerned was that Caleb knew she was watching. Laughing at him. The poor guy had accidentally just invited himself out with a leech. "Shouldn't you see a doctor Caleb?"

"Huh?"

Caleb looked down at Cornelia and then back to Irma who grinned even more, resting her arms around the shoulders of Hay Lin and Taranee; not that Hay Lin stayed there for long - constantly skipping ahead, the girl had decided to give them a reminder of Karmilla's entire album history. "You said, that you're in love! Above all other loves! Suddenly it turned into lust that, went back into dust!"

"I thought you had a growth, but it's just Cornelia on your arm." Irma's smile became evil as Cornelia quickly took a sidestep away from Caleb and Caleb laughed. Apparently saving his ass had made him relax alot, and Irma was glad, though she did think that he should have been a little less dismissive when telling her about the 'murmurers'.

"You said, you guys are friends but really you guys are benched! He said, he loved you and would never replace you! And would marry you, carry you!"

Irma really couldn't take much more of this, "We get it Hay Lin! You like Karmilla! And thanks to you not one of us will by the time we get there!"

"But instead he burried you! Now that it's seperate! He becomes desperate! He walks and talks!"

"Hay Lin!"

"But really he falls and crawls! He said, he hates you, he regrets you! And I said, I will hate him, and forget him!"

"HAY LIN!"

"Mikrí ripí anémou kaíte ta aftiá mou kai tha féta sígoura Filí sas éxo an den stamatísei. Den boreí na eínai óti écho na ypomeínei aftó kathós kai i Cornelia móno me tin elpída na milísei me énan apó esás pou katá týchi faínetai na eínai akómi thymoménos mazí mou, étsi tha sas parakaló na eínai ísycho tóra."

Everyone had shut up at that. Caleb had spoken so quickly and was looking very meaning fully at Hay Lin, so it was obviously important; Ir ma wondered if he forgot they were about as literate in his language as a penguin and Hay Lin's reply seemed rather obvious. "What?"

"I said.." Eyes were on Caleb and Irma thought it was probably his leadership qualities shining through that he could manage that so easily; a skill her own leader obviously couldn't achieve - perhaps that was why he'd joined them. To babysit. He raised one hand up and pulled Hay Lin's face upward by the chin so that she'd give him her attention. "Shut up."

**...**

Will tilted her head as she ambled towards the great glowing light of the portal ahead of her. It was beautiful really. Enegry bounced from it not solid, liquid or gas. It was just there; visable but out of reach to the dimensions - you couldn't touch it, only pass through it. A big gaping hole in the Universe. _Mihi virtutem._

"Sorry?" Will hadn't heard it probperly, or what had been said, but it lay in the back of her mind as she shook away a tingle that ran cold down her back. She looked around, but no one was there. She had imagined it. As wonderful it was that she was going crazy, Will shook off the words and fumbled with her collar, unzipping her large grey jacket to pull out the Heart. She held her hands in the air, and took a deep breath. As many times as she done it, the entire ordeal still freaked her out a bit.

_Mihi virtutem._ As she closed her eyes though, the Heart suddenly tugged away from her and she looked up; pulling the cord away from the portal with all her might until it realeased as if the Heart had just given up; sending her backside first onto the gravel.

"What's in there?" She knew it was forbidden to go into the portal alone. Well, Caleb hadn't exactly forbidden her, but there had been a lot of shouting about it and she'd definitly got herself into trouble. But the Heart wanted her to go. It was guiding her in.. Yanking her in was more literal actually.. There was a heavy gust of wind as leaves rustled around her, "Spord larts-ahh, you don't look right."

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><p><strong>Mikrí ripí anémou kaíte ta aftiá mou kai tha féta sígoura Filí sas éxo an den stamatísei. Den boreí na eínai óti écho na ypomeínei aftó kathós kai i Cornelia móno me tin elpída na milísei me énan apó esás pou katá týchi faínetai na eínai akómi thymoménos mazí mou, étsi tha sas parakaló na eínai ísycho tóra. - <strong>Little gust of wind you are burning my ears and I will surely slice your toungue out if you do not stop. It cannot be that I have to endure this as well as Cornelia just in hope to talk with one of you who by chance still appears to be mad at me, so will you please be quiet now.


	5. Chapter 5

"C'mon.. C'mon.." Elyon rifled through another stack of CDs, clicking her toungue and glancing up at the growing crowd of people lining up to see Karmilla. Elyon loved music; loved Karmilla. But she never truely saw the value in having someone sign your stuff. It was only a name. A scrawl that told anyone who saw it that you had had about three seconds in her presence whilst four hundred or so people all yelled for you to hurry up. It didn't do anything. It wasn't the person she loved anyway; it was Karmilla the artist. Her music. Elyon couldn't hear a signature and she didn't see much use in getting someone famous to vandalize her stuff.

"Hi!"

Elyon grimaced, then forced a smile before turning to Will. Then she felt a little stunned. "You look.. Happy.."

Elyon smiled nervously as Will grinned at her, before the girl's attention quickly went to her lace, which had untied and lay lifelessly on the shop's lino floor. Will didn't look right. She wasn't exactly sure of what it was that didn't seem normal - obviously other than the spacy smile that looked like it had come straight from planet Hay Lin - but it was there. Something was changed. Will looked up at her suddenly, and thrust out her hand in motion to be shaken. "Have you seen my friends? And whe-"

"Wow, you're funny." Elyon cooly slid past Will and her outstretched hand, deciding to ignore the girl completely if she was going to mock her. She started rifling through a new stack of CDs.

"I am?" Elyon glared up at Will, who had a vibrantly blank expression on her face, and wondered what Matt could possibly see in her. Elyon was more interesting than _that._

"Don't think you can insult me and mock me when Cornelia and the girls get here; you wont get away with this." Elyon slammed the CDs down and waled up to Will, who had picked up a CD case and experimentally put it into her mouth. "Give me that! Would you stop being such a freak!"

Will looked up at her and even Elyon couldn't ignore the jolt she felt looking at Will's hurt features, and when the girl turned away she could swear the girl might cry.

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/**

"Don't put her in the middle; you need to be tactful given her situation."

"Situation? What is she babbling about?" Will had hear her name before one of her teachers; Professor Dibbleton, had said that and she wondered what she'd meant. It didn't matter though as she was just glad to be back at school with her friends - Lara especially.

She hadn't been looking forward to school at all, but once her mother had dropped her off she immediately felt better about it. It wasn't as bad as she thought she remembered it. _'Look at her; Mrs Dibbleton's pet. She even pretends not to understand'._

Will's head shot up, "Um.. Excuse me Lara.. What was that?"

"Oh, me? Nothing Will, I didn't say anything.." Will watched her friend look away as the bell rang, fiddling with her pretty, long, light brown locks as she walked toward the school. _'Her parents' divorce has gone to her head.'_

_'Poor Will, if only she knew what people were saying about her a few moments ago..' _Will stared as Jenny Fergison passed her with a kind smile on her face, gaping at what she'd heard. It wasn't them speaking. But it was their voices.

_'Jeeze, why do people even feel sorry for her; my parents are divorced. So what?' _Another classmate pushed past her. Then another. All of their voices clouding her head with things she didn't want to hear. Someone wanted to avoid her because she was embarrasing. Someone thought she was crazy. Will couldn't help but agree with that one as she slung her bag further up on her shoulder and ran from the grounds.

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/**

Lord Cedric let his fingers draw lines on the dusty spines of the books at the back of his bookstore. It was a good place for him, and Cedric wondered why he had never before ventured into the library of the palace. He couldn't read most of it, in the old Meridian language know to few other than Price Phobos. But that didn't matter. He didn't read. He only liked the serenity here. The smell of the old parchment paper that filled the entire store. The solid structures and walls around him.

He needed the guardians. Caleb would probably need to be obtained aswell; before the girls humbled him further. He was already less daring. He had left the villagers to fight his battle and if that continued he'd be even harder to obtain. But first he needed the guardians. The Heart of Kandrakar was in Prince Phobos' sights and Cedric found a steady ideal in the thought of paining the Keeper. She made him itch with anger and agressive adrenaline. She would die.


	6. Chapter 6

Taranee didn't know what to say. Will had just introduced herself. To her. Then asked where she was. "Um, Will.. Are you feeling okay?"

"I feel fine, but that girl isn't being particularly nice." Taranee's forhead wrinkled slightly as her eyebrows stretched higher, the red head was clearly pointing to Elyon, who frowned and turned away. "Why? Do I look okay?"

Taranee stared back at Will for a second, who was trying to see into the crowds. "You look fine.. Who are you tryna see?"

"Lara." Taranee coughed suddenly, making Will jump - the girl seemed all jittery today and something was up with her. It was like she didn't know who they were. The redhead's eyes widened then, "Or Cornelia!"

"Cornelia?" Taranee became interested as to why she might not remember anyone but Cornelia and some girl name Lara. Though she was only assuming she didn't remember anyone..

"Yeah that's who the other Will told me to fi-" Taranee clamped a hand over Will's mouth, but it was too late. Elyon's gaze had returned; stony and intregued.

"Right, Will. That's enough playing games.." Taranee was glad to spot her friends and Taranee grabbed 'Will' around the shoulders with intention to drag her to the others. As the moved away she smiled sweetly at Elyon, "One second."

**...**

"Shht, Drake, look." Drake gawped as the portal beside him shimmered. It was false hope that had led himself and Aldarn there, and Drake was just about to concider going through to find Caleb. But the portal was spitting energy; a sure sign that someone was coming.

"Cale-" Drake looked to Aldarn who was staring as the body tumbled in. "Who is that?"

"O skatá! Eínai to Caleb agapiméni!" Aldarn look both happy and worried if it were possible, and Drake found himself not caring as he looked back at Caleb's 'sweetheart'. She was younger that even Aldarn; certainly that Drake, and she seemed rather plain and boyish to be 'the one' who would manage to break Caleb. Then again, Aldarn had managed to befriend him, and until then Caleb had been an impenetrable form. Aldarn's hand gripped on his shoulder as the man pushed himself up. "She's not supposed to be here in human form.."

Aldarn had gotten up and Drake followed, cracking his fingers, admittedly slightly nervous of meeting her. As far as Caleb was concerned, she was dangerous. _'Then again'_, Drake thought with a dry laugh, _'That might just be a 'sweetheart' thing'._

"Den tha prépei na eínai edó, ektós eán o fílos sas érchetai mésa apó: you should not come through unless Caleb is behind." Drake watched as the girl stood up and scowled at Aldarn.

"Well thank you for offering me a hand up Aldarn, I am sure Caleb would be proud of your courtesy." The young girl muttered, sweeping the dust off of her trousers. "Actually, that's not sarcasm, he probably would be glad you left me."

* * *

><p><strong>O skatá! Eínai Caleb agapiméni<strong> - Oh shit! It's Caleb's sweetheart!

**Den tha prépei na eínai edó, ektós eán o fílos sas érchetai mésa apó** - You shouldn't be here unless your boyfriend is coming through.


	7. Chapter 7

"That's a drop!" Hay Lin stared at the 'Will' in front of her. She already liked the girl, who smiled widely introducing herself to anyone who looked at her. She didn't seem to be Will at all; very bubbly and instead of jokes she would simply laugh at anything she liked. She was also apparently quite fascinated by the beads rnning through Taranee's short hair - the girl's eyes studying everyon determindly.

"I am going to kill Will when she gets back here! Leaving us with this- this.. This." Cornelia was at a loss for a fitting word and finished her statement with an accusing finger pointed at the giggling drop.

Taranee pushed down Cornelia's hand smoothly, "She is very sensitive. Look, where's Caleb? Maybe he can-"

"Sensitive! You think that she's sensitive? Why?" Cornelia's aggrivation quickly transformed into confusion, and quite frankly, all of the could understand that. Drops weren't meant to be anything other than what the 'owner' was. "Is Will okay?"

A long silence followed then, with all of the girls looking at the Will drop. They all knew something was wrong with Will. She'd been skipping out on them all week long. Hay Lin fumbled with the bottom of her pigtail, trying to break the guilty tension. "Uh.. I think Caleb's with Irma.."

...

"Nómiza óti eípes óti eínai téleia? Aftí eínai polý perissótero san éna agóri apó ó, ti eícha fantasteí Caleb tha íthela. An kai ektimó to endiaféron tou, dedoménou óti sígoura boreí na syllávei tin prosochí. Prépei na tis arései giatí eínai énas machitís."

"An prospathísete na goitéfsei Caleb tis tha échei sígoura ti zoí sas. Eínai polý perissótero me tin apó ó, ti tou arései na pistévoume."

As the two men grinned at her in a far too friendly way, Will felt her face slowly creep from it usual colour to the vivid red that matched her hair. She knew for a fact that they were talking about Caleb, and surely the way the young man Drake looked at her, they were also including her in the conversation topic. "I am right here; and you do not have the right to talk about me like this."

"I'm sorry Keeper, but it is hard not to notice you and just as hard not to speak of you." If she wasn't blushing before, she certainly did now as the young man took her hand and brushed his lips over her skin. As far as she could tell, Will was not going to get along with this man. She glanced to the tensely watching Aldarn before jerking her hand back as though it were burned. Aldarn seemed to react to that, taking it in his stride to condemn Drake's flirtatiousness.

"I told you no! Caleb will have your head!"

"He what!" Will blurted, not sure whether they were serious or not; Caleb was a very secretive boy and she truly did not know that much about him. She supposed if she hadn't spent so much of her time hiding from him she might know him by now, but several weeks had gone and to her he was still incredibly new.  
>"N-no, not really Keeper.. He was only referring to Caleb's.. Fondness.. Of you.. A-and the guardians." Will watched as the two men exchanged uncomfortable glances - she in turn feeling about how they looked.<p>

...

"Why are you afraid of the flower people?" Irma asked her practiced words. She didn't generally need to recite something, but this question had been dancing around her mind for days. It'd be easier to ask if she knew what the things were, but Caleb had only said something about mumbling or muttering or something.

Caleb seemed less than surprised by the question, and other than a little awkwardness he took the question in his stride, turning to a CD rack and fumbling through boxes he didn't know the use of. Maybe he had known she'd ask him. It was an obvious question, wasn't it? "I am afraid because they have been set to not quite kill me."

"To _'not quite' _kill you?" Irma was smiling when she asked, but his serious features quickly sobered her. "What does that mean?"

Caleb shuffled the boxes in his hands, lingering on one where the cover art was particularly gruesome, then pushed the pile away. "They will take my soul and use me as their slave. The murmurers don't do that, but they will do it to me."

Irma felt a lump in her throat than he said that. He was deeper than she'd originally thought she supposed. He wasn't afraid of pain unless he might be the one causing it. It wasn't in her style to be deep though; she didn't like tension. She wish she'd never asked. "So.. Elyon and the girls are over there I think.."

* * *

><p><strong>Nómiza óti eípes óti eínai téleia? Aftí eínai polý perissótero san éna agóri apó ó, ti eícha fantasteí Caleb tha íthela . An kai ektimó to endiaféron tou, dedoménou óti sígoura boreí na syllávei tin prosochí. Prépei na tis arései giatí eínai énas machitís. <strong>- I thought you said she is perfect; she is far more like a boy than I imagined Caleb would like. Though I do appreciate his interest as she certainly can capture attention. He must like her because she is a fighter.

**An prospathísete na goitéfsei Caleb tis tha échei sígoura ti zoí sas. Eínai polý perissótero me tin apó ó, ti tou arései na pistévoume** - If you try to charm her Caleb will surely have your life. He is far more concerned with her than he likes to believe.


	8. Chapter 8

Elyon Brown glared as the girls kept whispering on, and couldn't help but wonder why they'd bothered to invite her if she wasn't wanted. Then Will just had to act out in public - she had never seen that side of the girl before; she was acting like a child. "Elyon."

Everything was forgotten when Caleb greeted her from behind, and she blushed at the slightly raised eyebrows that told her he'd seen her watching the others. "Hey Caleb."

"And why hello Irma, how nice it was for you to invite me!" Irma mimicked Elyon and Elyon wondered if her voice was really that high, but most of her energy was going into studying Caleb. She couldn't help it. Cornelia was incredibly lucky - she'd told Elyon about the flower - and Elyon wondered if it would be worth it to fall out with him, just to see if it would get her the same treatment. Probably not; although she was glad he didn't like her. even Elyon thought it a little obvious when he didn't even say sorry to Will when they'd been aparently fighting. They could fight all they wanted as long as he still gave her these smiles.

"Yeah, oh hi Irma.." She heard Irma slap her head dramatically, but was in too much of a dream world to care. A dream world where Caleb had kept looking at her and smiling, rather than looking over for Cornelia as he was now..

"Are they fighting with Will?" 'Who cares' was the first reaction for Elyon, but She knew it would go down badly and she didn't want to sound selfish. "Oh yeah.. She's been acting up today.."

**...**

Prince Phobos couldn't see it, but the murmurers could swear something was wrong; telling him in their own way as thorns grew large over every vine; flowers opening poisonous and ready to kill. It was a threat. Nothing was a threat. Phobos fisted a handful of sand and threw it across the floor.

**...**

"Prépei na páo, min akolouthísete eména."

Aldarn gaped at Will when the words fell of her mouth so casually, but it wasn't Will that he saw. "O, óchi, ti eínai aftó? Ti na kánoume gia aftín? Aftó den eínai kaló Drake, den eínai ta mikrá korítsia éprepe na po óti - aftó den teleiónei poté kalá.."

But Drake hadn't noticed. He was busy looking at the portal. "Where are you going?"

"Why cant follow you?" Aldarn stared into the portals of energy - her eyes were alight and he doubt she could hear them. She raised her hand slowly and with a clear sweeping motion, a force threw him into the nearest tree with a heavy thud. A shout of pain told him that Drake had suffered the same fate as vines crawled up and along his body entrapping him. He watched the forest move around the guardian leader as she walked on. This really wasn't good.

* * *

><p><strong>Prépei na páo, min akolouthísete eména - <strong>I'm going, don't follow me.

**O, óchi, ti eínai aftó? Ti na kánoume gia aftín? Aftó den eínai kaló Drake, den eínai ta mikrá korítsia éprepe na po óti - aftó den teleiónei poté kalá..** - Oh no, what is that? What did we do to her? This isn't good Drake, little girls aren't supposed to say that - it never ends well..


	9. Chapter 9

"Um, hi! Caleb! Irma! Elyon!" Caleb stared as Cornelia and the girls gave wide, fake smiles while Will looked blankly at him and Irma with an almost scared expression as the others pushed her forward. He supposed he would look scared too if he was in her position - she clearly wasn't in on whatever was going on.

"Um.." Caleb studied the girls' faces suspiciously as Will shuffled, squirming as though uncomfortable in her own skin. It made him trust the girls even less that Will looked so hesitant and his eyes immediately flittered to Cornelia, prejudice setting before he could stop it. Will then too seemed to focus on Cornelia, as if she were in charge. "Can I go home now?"

"**Will! **You don't want to go home yet! We haven't even seen Karmilla!" Taranee nudged the girl in a far too obvious way and while exchanging looks with Irma and Elyon's expression reading boredom - she had apparently already been exposed to this kind of stilted conversation - Caleb put two and two together and wondered if home might be the only place she'd talk. It'd also be a reason to talk to Will properly, because until now he realized that he didn't have anything solid to give her as conversation. He just hadn't seen her in a while.

"I can take you home if you're not feeling well." Will's eyes darted back to him and he felt a tad disturbed by the new way she was looking at him. Apprehensive. Hesitant. It was like she was doubtful of him. Suspicious. He shook his head - there was no way she had found anything out within the week.

"Uhhh.." Hay Lin seemed to be trying to find an excuse, but Cornelia suddenly smiled in a way that made him even more on edge. She pulled out a pad of paper and a pen, scribbling something down before sliding through the others towards him.

"That's a great idea Caleb, here, you might need this." Cornelia held the paper out between two long fingers, a look in her eyes that he knew to well as a reason to back away from a woman. He grudgingly took the paper and then practically fell over as Cornelia pushed Will into him. "See you!"

**...**

Phobos watched as the girl came onward. He doubted she was the threat, but the Gods had certainly delivered this time as he studied her pale face. She was noticable he supposed, but not the sublime beauty as her blonde. But her tiny features were certainly fascinating. Her pouting lips slightly parted, and barely moving as though she were whispering unheard words. Her eyes were closed and peace etched itself over her relaxed face, she walked hypnotically in the direction of the castle; forests and streams parting from her path. The Gods were delivering her to him. And would need to find out why.

_"Donec in enim Metaworld ad me. Ut eam."_

Move the Metaworld for her. I need her. Phobos knew he could be truthful in his tongue. Not twenty beings on the planet could speak in the ancient language, and he had made sure not one of them were in the castle. These words were his. Just as she would be.

**...**

Elyon watched Will tumble clumsily over Caleb and she saw the smile. It wasn't even her. It was Caleb. Caleb was holding her up and laughing as she found her feet and Will hadn't even really fallen over. Will was retched. A floozy tart who had already infatuated Matt with her innocent facade, and now Caleb. "I didn't know you knew where I lived!"

"I've been to your house remember?" He grinned, while the others glanced to one another nervously and Irma looked about as awestruck as she, "When you gave the frog away to-"

"When I did what!" Elyon rolled her eyes as Will jumped around with too much life to face him, with horror on his face. Elyon grinned. She'd done it now. Even Caleb looked a little overwhelmed by her neurotic behaviour.

"Um.." Elyon's eyes shifted from one body to the other as Will seemed to go into a state of panic, and Cornelia motioned Caleb to open the note. Caleb looked directly at Elyon then and smile apologetically - as if Will was his fault, before turning to Will. "Maybe we should go.."

He led her out with a hand on her back and if Elyon's look could kill she'd have burned a hole into Will's head. The other girls seemed relieved other than Irma, who raised an eyebrow at Cornelia, "Well, this day was a total waste of makeup."


	10. Chapter 10

This is quite a short chapter, but I like each paragraph the way they are so I thought I'd leave them at that. I've posted 4 chapters today. Cut me some slack :L

* * *

><p>Will blinked rapidly, then jumped back in shock. The world around her seemed to have changed. Aldarn was gone. Drake was gone. And when she looked up she supposed that those high stone torrents belonged to a castle. She was in the garden. Her breath was stuck in her throat - weren't plants meant to increase oxygen? Though these weren't any plants. <em>"Welcome to the Garden of the Black Roses."<em>

It wasn't a voice; it blew past her in the breeze and goose bumps covered any exposed flesh. It was the icy breeze on her stomach that drew attention to the fact that she was transformed. She hadn't done that, she was sure. She hadn't come here. "What am I doing here?"

Will cringed at her loud voice rustling throughout the thorns and flowers. It would be very Will to be caught right now, simply because she'd shouted out and drawn attention to herself. She should be glad that the castle guards were yet to be alerted of her presence.

**...**

"You're not real.." Caleb frowned down at the curved scrawl on the otherwise cleanly foled sheet of paper before clenching it tightly in his fist. She wasn't here at all.

"Of course I am silly!" The slave smiled at him brightly and he knew he should have seen it before. He had seen it before. That wasn't Will's smile; only her lips. That wasn't her voice; only her little throat that it was being projected from. The grin was too wide and her tone was too high for Will. She moved too much too; always restless while Will was determined.

"**No you're not!**" His teeth clenched in a snarl as the body shrank back from his gnarl of a retort. He seized her arm below her shoulder then and pulled her away from the building. He couldn't get to Will's fast enough.

**...**

Prince Phobos wondered if he should move them aside for her - he had the power to make them wilt at will. But she wasn't moving forward anymore. She had opened her eyes. Maybe he should save her. Maybe he should send for the guards. But something stopped him from doing either. Movement ceased from him as he studied her; hearing her finally push out a shaky breath. She quivered slightly in the breeze he let constantly flow around the grounds and her long delicate wings fluttered very lightly as her hazel eyes took in the beauty of his garden; sultry long lashes closing as often as, but more slowly than a blink should be. "Age porro puer."

But she didn't come. She leant into the Black roses, thoughtful and studious as she deliberated the flowers, though currently to him curiosity deemed her far more enchanting than the sinners of his garden. _"Black roses.. There are thousands..!"_

Phobos leant forward as she tentatively raised her hand up, stroking her finger along the petal of the Black rose, then down it's stalk. He saw the tiny prick of blood before she managed to draw her hand back and with angered frustration he grabbed another handful of sand, which when he threw it lay lifelessly on the floor. He didn't want to watch anymore. "Silly girl. Indignum."

He didn't mean it though.

* * *

><p><strong>Age porro puer <strong>- Come forward child

**Indignum - **A disgrace


	11. Chapter 11

"Are you sure you don't wanna come with?" Cornelia sent a faint smile in Elyon's direction, but Elyon shook her head. She hadn't wanted to 'come with' in the first place, and Will had only dampened her moods. The girls again had that look in their eyes that told her she wasn't wanted. They wanted to talk about Will. She had heard them. Cornelia and Taranee muttering later while the Hay Lin and Irma gossiped.

Elyon couldn't stand it anymore. The idea of two friends growing apart had always seemed ridiculous to Elyon, but Will was proving to be a heavy catalyst in her and the girls' separation. "I was just gonna go for a walk.. It's a beautifu-"

It was raining. She hadn't even noticed though the way that the sky matched how she felt made it only more appropriate for a walk she supposed. The weather did that a lot. Corresponded. Then again, that was just one of the many nice coincidences she'd found herself with; none of them being a coincidental guy or a coincidental compliment. No, she got lousy weather when she felt bad. "You sure?"

"C'mon.. My dad'll give you free food.. He feeds Irma for free and you know how much of an income decline she is..!"Even Hay Lin couldn't cheer her up anymore. She couldn't stand it to see the girl laughing and sipping around while Elyon's world was shaking. But the truth was that there was nothing to be done. Will would get her way and Elyon wouldn't do anything about it; that's who Elyon was. Elyon could maybe beat the replacement by sliding over and joining Alchemy's group, but other than that Elyon just didn't have the capacity to fight Will, or the charcter-traits that made friends easily. Someone had to come to her. She was too shy to pick someone out to talk to. Cornelia had come to her.

"No, thank you." Elyon pushed HayLin's incoming hug away and didn't let herself look back as she stormed out of the shop with her newly vandalized CD cases, heading god knows where, down the street.

**,...**

"You know what I think? I think you're far too angry for your own good." Caleb growled under his breath as the voice chirpped on blissfully ignorant of her situation. She was nothing on Will. Nothing at all. This being was just that; a being; an illusion of Will; almost a figment of imagination.

He stopped outside the highrise, but the drop continued on, talking about how he would do himself an injury with all of his anger once he couldn't contain it anymore. Caleb thought that were she not Will's, she ought be more worried about herself. "We're here."

"Where?" Alien brown eyes drifted to him questioningly, and something shifted at his throat as she looked suspiciously from him to the buillding and back. Was she afraid?

"Will's house. She lives here." Caleb stared at her strangely as he waited for her to open the door and go up the stairs to Will's home and Will's stuff, eager to leave this shell and return to Hay Lin and the others for distraction. It uneased him that she looked like Will. It made him almost queasy that he had honestly mistaken her until he'd read the note. It was disturbing.

"I don't live here!" It wasn't a statement; it was an accusation. He didn't like the mistrust in Will's eyes as her body moved slowly away from him; cautious; afraid.

"If you didn't live here, then _why _would I bring you here!" Caleb spat the words at her with venom. "Go upstairs and wait for Will so she can get rid of you."

"B-but I don't live here! This isn't my house!" Her retreating steps got larger and Caleb knew he'd have to follow her, taking a large stride forward for every one she went back. "No! Get away from me!"

**...**

Prince Phobos wasn't a man of pity. Nor sorrow. But as Vathek bowed down in front of the man he didn't feel fear or anger for the man. He had never seen Prince Phobos before, but had known immediatly from Cedric's descriptions that the man in front of him was none other. It was in Vathek's place to be scouting the halls at this time, but he knew that Phobos may ensue for a penalty simply for being in the room when the royal Prince walked in. "Emeer. I apologise for my prescence.."

"It doesn't matter." Vathek's brow drew at the Prince's democratic treatment towards him. Prince Phobos was a monarch. A tyrant at that. And yet he waved Vathek up as though they were close friends. The Prince's voice was dry as though he'd had a cough or sore throat. "I have had great loss Vathek, of power. A Heart passed by my eyes. Tell me, do you know of the Black Roses?"

Vathek wondered if it were a trick, but when he nodded Phobos only smiled a crooked smile and cackled as he moved on through the castle; presumably to scare more of the groundsmen out of their wits. Vathek scratched his head staring at the door the prince had used to leave, but then realisation set in of what Prince Phobos claimed to be true. For now however, Vathek could do nothing.


	12. Chapter 12

Cedric had found his salvation. And it had just drifted past his bookstore. He did wonder for a second why, if not for this, would a child be so close to the buisness grounds of Heatherfield. But then he decided on fate. "You're getting very wet."

His voice was slick, casual. Just what would lure any young girl in, with the help of his betrayingly kind eyes and charming half smile. He leant against the open door as the child whirled around; water drops flying from the ends of her sopping straw braids. She was a friend of the guardians. The girl didn't like the Keeper. Then so he would use this child as the noose to tie around that Keeper's neck. "Of course I am. It's raining."

It was said bitterly, but he could see that she had then bit her lip; her nervous fingers reaching for the end of a braid and twisting around until the skin of her index started to turn blue. "I know you from coming in here.. You can come inside. If you'd like."

Too innocent. Too easy. She glanced quickly down at her own soaking body and gave him a shy smile. "Maybe just for a little while. The rain might stop."

**...**

Before Daltar, a young woman tossed and turned on the lush grass. He continued on with his small watering pot and let the garden grow at their magical rate, a few flowers sprouting around her crumpled body. He could not tell apart stirring for her active sleeping and only when she woke and began to speak up would he take a closer look. It was not proper to watch a woman who was not your wife sleep, and he was quite sure she was not dead.

"B-but.." He watched her slowly sit forward,a pair of wings straightening on her back. She wasn't an average Escanor then. A pixie or palmós perhaps - it would not do if she were here to make trouble. "How did I get here?"

"It is a real miracle for you to have survived the black roses mikró paidí." When she shrank back he knew she'd be no struggle for him. She was as scared as though he were dangerous. "Na min eínai anóitos, don't be afraid of me child; I am Daltar, only a humble gardener. I will not harm you child."

"Will.." The girl stared at him in complete innocent confusion, her question probably lost to many more in her mind. Though it would not do for her to be to nervous to ignore the manners of giving him her name.

"The thorns are lethal to all others, though you have survived.." He smiled kindly at her intregue as she sat forward to listen. She was not impolite he didnt think; only bashful of a stranger. "How did you manage to bear the effects?"

"It's a question I can't answer.." She looked thoughtful where she sat and the slight twist of her mouth and brush of a frown reminded him of his lost sister who had gone not older than seventeen; though he wasn't accurate - the numbers of his life were lost amist the uncountable roses. She then pulled out something he recognised as magic; it was being held in a pendant that didn't even make size of his fist. "Maybe the Heart of Kandrakar.. That's what we thought did it before.."

"Kandrakar?" He perked up at that. "Kidemónas?"

She seemed to know what he had said as she beamed at him. "Hey, I think my friend-"

"You are a Guardian of the great wall? Are you here to save us? Have you come to face the Prince!" He knew he should calm down, that his eagerness would startle her, but he couldn't quench his excitement. "I wish you good luck, as I hate that creature with force! He is pure evil and he needs to be vanquished!"

"You don't like him? Why?"

**...**

"What do you think happened to Will?" Hay Lin rolled onto her stomach and let her hair fall over her shoulders, well past the bottom panel of her bed, but not quite touching the carpet. Irma sat on the floor with her back against the bed, Taranee sitting at the computer.

"What?" Cornelia walked into the room, wrapping a towel Hay Lin had sent her for around her soaking hair. Cornelia didn't do well with rain. "I dunno, guardian stuff I guess. It was a pain that she sent us _that _astral drop. Her absence would have been a better cover."

"Oh shut up, you're just angry that Caleb had to go when he took her home."

Both Taranee and Hay Lin looked sceptically at Irma, while Cornelia only rolled her eyes. "Didn't Cornelia _send him _to take her home?"

"Oh.. Shush."

**...**

Will sat intently as Daltar told her the story of the Black roses. "Vevaíos, I tried to decline, but Phobos pursuaded me to the task."

Daltar had created the gardens. Created the roses. He had been outstanded by the fact that she, as well as he, had gazed upon the Prince's face. But it was what he couldn't tell her that she liked the most. If he couldn't translate a word he would leave it as it was, very beautiful words that were oozed out rather than said. Caleb spoke them like that too, but she was thankful if he avoided or tried to translate them for her; she wasn't as fond when Caleb spoke the language most of the time - he spoke it when he was angry.

"I couldn't ptósi," His eyes stung with apologies, and she wondered who they were for. What they were for. "He came to me with news from his to mourmoúrisma and I had to ptósi once more. He asked for lethal roses, that would sýllipsi the people of Meridian. A wall of the roses between his castle and Metamoor."

"More-more-is-" Will frowned as she tried to recal at least one of the words she needed translated, but he talked smooth and quickly so she had to let it go and try to concentrate on the rest of what he was saying. He didn't seem to have realized that she didn't speak his language.

"My wife and kóri suffered for my no, and they became the first of the black roses." Will felt her throat close up as he looked up at her, defeated. _Korry. _She would remember that, to ask Caleb. She shook her self back into reality and watched him motion to the thick wall of black roses she hadn't realized were behind her. "These flowers are the people of Meridian."

"Are these roses.. Alive?" She knew it was a silly question; of course they were alive. She'd meant were the people alive. Were they aware.

Daltar nodded. "Is it not almost irony for Phobos to home the flower-people who are not aware, while he sends the people-flowers to live in the cold gardens?"

"Sorry.." Will furrowed her brow as she said the words slowly; uncertainly. "I d-don't ..understand.."

"Though I suppose they are some in here too; only camoflaged.." He stopped when he realized who he was talking to and seemed to seize with anxiety. "You should leave. This will be easier for you.."

He was pushing her towards the roses. As she just began to dig her heels in to try and stop him, the flowers parted and she relaxed. He was helping her, not trying to hurt her. "Uh.. Yeah.. Thank you. Daltar."

* * *

><p><strong>Palmós - <strong>Imp

**Mikró paidí - **Small child

**Na min eínai anóitos -** Don't be silly

**Vevaíos - **Of course

**Ptósi - **Decline

**Sýllipsi** - Capture


	13. Chapter 13

Last 2 chapters next after this I think.. Probably later tonight..

* * *

><p>Elyon smiled as she walked home, ignoring the rain. The bookshop keeper was the light in her cloudy day and she wasn't going to let a little water stop that. "Rick.. Hoffman."<p>

He was lovely. Really lovely. It hadn't taken too long before she'd burst into tears, right in the bookshop, and he had only sat her down and made hot chocolate. He listened to everything. Every dribbly word that she had uttered and when she had finally finished damning Will and her friends and her parents to hell, she moved on to crying about how much of a failure she was. She couldn't even stand up to a skinny little redhead. Then he spoke and just like that she felt better. Just like that he managed to fix it all. Everything was made clear. _"It's not who you are that holds you back. It's what you believe that you're not." _

Then he had talked about French. He had recalled that she had recently bought a French book - well, Cornelia had, but it was for her. He could speak French, but very little. It was about then that she decided. He was l'homme parfait. A perfect man. Someone who had nothing to give her and nothing to gain. He was simply.. Her friend.

**...**

"Eínai nekrós, aftí eínai nekrós! O skatá, échoume skotósei schedón erastí Caleb tou! Aftós tha mas skotósei tóra! Den échei simasía an eímai o kalýteros fílos tou! Tha mas ta vasanistíria kai tin o Palvita ó, ti échoume kánei?"

"We didn't do anything. We didn't kill her. She's killed herself." Drake frowned at the castle wall that now held the guardian leader within. It had parted, crumbled, and she had walked directly toward the black roses. Drake had caught only a glimps of her body moving through the intertwining thorns while the wall resealed itself. And then Aldarn had started to panic. Drake however couldn't deny one thing. "Caleb _will _kill us."

Caleb was a good fighter, if not the best with a knife he had seen. He could be incredibly quick, but Aldarn was also aware that Caleb could be painfully slow when killing a man. "

"Sígoura aftó eínai to méros mou na anisychoún perissótero gia!" Aldarn spat the words, but Drake knew that the young boy was only afraid. Drake wasn't sure actually, as he studied his young friend. Caleb was kind, though his temper strong. He refrained however from Raydon and Drake was the one who had listened instead of Aldarn's young ears to what exactly Caleb wanted to do to Raydon. It wasn't pretty. And they had had to pry Caleb's hands from the man's thick neck far too many times before Caleb finally went to brooding over peeling of his skin, rather than physically giving his idea of punishment.

"Éprepe na eínai éna korítsi." Aldarn would take it to mean it just had to be 'Caleb's girl', but that wasn't what Drake meant at all. Caleb wasn't fond of children, never had he been despite the body of a child that he was formed into. But out of the corner of his eye, it was exposed. Caleb's weakness was girls. The children. He didn't need to be told like others that they were soft and that he should be gentle. He was wary of a girl like it were his own baby sister, and Caleb hated that such a feeble child could do that to him. Hurting a girl was Caleb's idea of ultimate sin. Until the child was a woman, she was not to be harmed in any way. Éprepe na eínai éna korítsi.

* * *

><p><strong>Eínai nekrós, aftí eínai nekrós! O skatá, échoume skotósei schedón erastí Caleb tou! Aftós tha mas skotósei tóra! Den échei simasía an eímai o kalýteros fílos tou! Tha mas ta vasanistíria kai tin o Palvita ó, ti échoume kánei? -<strong> She's dead, she's dead! Oh shit, we've practically killed Caleb's lover! He'll kill us now! It doesn't matter if I'm his best friend! He will torture us and oh Palvita what have we done?

**Sígoura aftó eínai to méros mou na anisychoún perissótero gia - **Surely that is the part I am to be most worried about!

**Éprepe na eínai éna korítsi -** It just had to be a girl.


	14. Chapter 14

With Aldarn, Drake and Will, I want to add in signs that they _are _children. Will does enough silly things, but I'd like the boys' ages to reflect in their actions and hope it's worked here, with Aldarn 15 and Drake slightly older, about 17.

* * *

><p>It shouldn't have been so hard for Caleb, or maybe it should have been harder to drag Will's body up the stairs; kicking and screaming. She hadn't calmed down until she was in Will's room, where she latched onto one of the toy frogs like it would help her catch her quick, heavy breaths or slow her racing pulse. But he'd had to get her up there. <em>'Why is my stuff here?'<em>

He pushed himself forward through the pounding rain that he hadn't even noticed when he was busy ignoring the drop. But he couldn't ignore it now that it wasn't here. The raging silence was harder to ignore than it's constant natter. About him. About her friends - people he didn't recognise the names of. About her father. Will didn't have a father. He supposed people might not need them here - one parent was enough. Aldarn didn't have a mother, though she had died.. The thoughts and questions jumbled in his brain below the surface; the real cloud in his mind being guilt.

She wasn't supposed to have feelings, but he could swear he saw the real Will staring at Cedric before he threw her across a room when he'd looked back at the drop staring at him. She looked terrified, but she couldn't feel. Think. Think.. _'I think you're too angry for your own good.'_

"O Theé mou!" She was real. She had to be real. She wasn't Will, but she was real. An accident. Caleb was fairly sure that he was exactly that; an accident of nature; and he had told her all of the things he himself so hated to hear. He had told her she was a fake; a lie. How could he have let himself be so cruel? Because he was angry that it wasn't Will.

**...**

"Entáxei, entáxei, entáxei.. Tha prépei na iremísoun. Aldarn, irémise." But Aldarn couldn't calm down. The girl was dead. And Caleb would undoubtably blame him more than Drake, if only for encouraging Caleb to like her. Aldarn paced back and forth far too quickly in attempt to abolish his nervous energy. So far all he had accomplished was making the space around him a dizzy blur and in turn making him more nauseous.

"Nomízo óti prókeitai na eímai árrostos!" Aldarn wasn't entirely sure if he would actually throw up, but currently he was sure he might feel better as there was something unnaturally heavy climbing the wals of his stomach and throat.

When Drake rolled his eyes, Aldarn bent over, holding Drake's arm for support; readying himself to heave. "Aldarn? Guys?"

Instead of a retch, Aldarn coughed and failed miserably at standing up; nearly falling face first on the ground. Drake dragged him up by the back of his top and Aldarn found himself staring up at Will. Caleb's Will. She looked more than a little nervous, pushing a lock of red behind her ear, and Aldarn could barely produce a squeak with his voice, "Keeper?"

She shifted on the spot and one hand wrapped itself around the other; fingers entangling with shy nerves. "Can we not tell Caleb this happened..?" Aldarn and Drake looked at each other and knew the other had the same thought; not telling Caleb would save their skins at the least.

"Symfónise."

"Agreed."

Aldarn knew there was a reason he liked this girl.

**...**

"Hey mom!" Eleanor Brown frowned as Elyon ran in, soaking water into the rug, but she couldn't hold the anger as her daughter wrapped herself around her and planted a kiss on her cheek. The water was icy as it drained into her top, but Elyon's hug was warm, her smile warmer. "I'm home!"

**...**

It had been raining when she crossed the portal. When she got home, sodden and wet, Will Vandom found herself hugging a frog in the bedroom; looking blankly through a magazine, but not paying enough attention to read it. "Did you go to the signing then?"

It felt a little strange to ask herself, but as the drop looked up at her blankly Will's squeamish stomach did a flip. There was something she didn't like about it's dull eyes; almost sad, but certainly without life. [0] It shrugged. "I came here."

Will rolled her eyes as the drop went back to her staring at pages and the biggest problem she could see was the gigantic wet patch that would have soaked through her matress as the drop sat, still soaking. "Astral drop."

**...**

Caleb didn't bother to rap on the door as he reached Will's apartment. There wasn't a single occasion so far that he had knocked. He slid through the door silently, and there wasn't a noise other than a heavy ticking of a clock somewhere in the room. Padded steps took him to her bedroom, and for one of very few times in his life Caleb felt nervous. It was funny to him, as he pushed open the door of her room without a creak, that the only person who could make him nervous other than Will without bait was the girl trapped in the redheads body, kneeling on the floor and attacking Will's matress with a towel; muttering something intelligable to herself. "I'm sorry."

He didn't like the boom of his voice within the small box of walls, nor the way she seemed to jump out of her skin. But then she carried on, only a glance and a faint smile in his direction before she did so alerting him. It was Will again. He had missed the drop. "Sorry for what? What have you done?"

Her voice was light and mocking, with a hint of something else that at first he'd pinpoint as guilt, but then he was so often mistaken by Will. But now he had his own guilt. He had exposed himself and two options were clear to him. Tell the truth. Or lie. Or maybe there was something else.. "For being myself when we are alone."

That made her turn around, standing up to face him properly, with a smile that reached past her eyes and she echoed in the silent humor she found in his statement. Were it not so grimmly true he'd probably find her smile contageous, as it so frequently was. "So _you're _apologising.. For the times you've been nice?"

"It's a little silly when you say it like that.." He found himself looking at his shoes, and when he managed to convince himself to look up again the smile had become a grin. "But I was angry when I was myself too. And I am sorry."

"Oh.. That.. It's okay." But it wasn't. She looked worse than before, and her dripping hair only added to her anguish. But he didn't know how to remedy it. He thought that his apology was the right thing to do, and though this had been an accident it was one way to force himself into something he was afraid of. It wasn't admitting he was wrong, but admitting that he wish he hadn't done it. "Sometimes I think you're too angry for your own good!" She laughed uneasily, but something fell to the bottom of his stomach and every ounce of his strength willed him not to jolt at the heavy feeling. "I..'m sorry I hit you."

It was an offering from her. To show that she forgave him. He walked up to her and as his mind screamed not to touch, he scooped her chin into his hands; the startled look in her eyes wishing to back away was clear, but he smiled and made sure his contact was unmistakable. He didn't want her to doubt this. "No you're not. And you shouldn't be. Arketá sýntoma."

He left then, a hand raised as he waved at the girl he left standing behind him. He slightly wished to stay, but he needed to find out as much as he could about astral drops, though he doubted he'd find much more. "Wait, Caleb. What's a korry?"

"Kóri?" He stopped and looked back at her, she didn't know what she was saying but it surprised him how close her pronounciation was to the real thing. She nodded, serious, her features to straight for him to be able to read what she was thinking. "It means daughter."

"Oh.. Okay, bye!" Her wave and her words were far more cheerful than her eyes, but he couldn't stay. He shouldn't. It was feeling far too much like a dream for him to be safe with her.

* * *

><p><strong>O Theé mou -<strong> Oh my God(s) (it's an xclamation basically)

**Entáxei, entáxei, entáxei.. Tha prépei na iremísoun. Aldarn, irémise. - **Okay, okay, okay. You need to calm down. Aldarn, calm down.

**Nomízo óti prókeitai na eímai árrostos -** I think I'm going to be sick!

[0] note that Will almost thought her drop was sad - it was meant to relay that it was somber and sad because of what Caleb had said/done, but it had obv calmed down.

* * *

><p>Okay, well that's the end of that - it's quite a long story actually, but I'm hoping we can see that Caleb and Will are starting to want for one another.<p> 


End file.
